The present invention relates to the extension and retraction of semitrailer landing gears. More specifically, the present invention provides a convenient automated alternative to the common practice of having a driver manually turn a crank handle to raise or lower the landing gears.
Semitrailers include telescopic stands known as landing gears. These landing gears are positioned toward a front end of semitrailers, and they are utilized to support semitrailers on the ground when not attached to a truck. The landing gear is typically extended and retracted via a manually operated crank handle. However, hand-cranking the landing gear can result in exhaustion, muscle aches, and back injuries for the truck driver. In the trucking industry, an injured back can translate into an inability to work. The inability to work can lead to workers compensation claims, which is a very costly operating expense for trucking companies. Drivers often couple and uncouple several trailers a day and manually operating the gear is time consuming and tiring. In order to address these concerns, the present invention provides a semitrailer landing gear control assembly that utilizes an external input compressed air to automatically extend and retract the landing gear of a semitrailer without requiring manual operation from the driver.
Devices have been disclosed in the known art that relate to semitrailer landing gear controllers. These include devices that have been patented and published in patent application publications. These devices generally relate to automated means of raising and lowering the landing gear of a semitrailer, however these devices do not integrate with the existing framework of a semitrailer and require significant modification to be made to the semitrailer before they can be used. The present invention is designed to be used in conjunction with the existing framework of the semitrailer without need for redesign or significant modification.
In light of the devices disclosed in the known art, it is submitted that the present invention substantially diverges in design elements from the known art and consequently it is clear that there is a need in the art for an improvement to existing semitrailer landing gear controller devices. In this regard the instant invention substantially fulfills these needs.